


The Doppelgänger

by Val_Creative



Series: Kinktober/Whumptober/Goretober 2020 [9]
Category: DCU, Gotham (TV)
Genre: Action, Adults, Amputation, Angst, Bruce Wayne Has a Heart, Clone Sex, Clones, Far Future, Goretober, Hostage Situations, Implied/Referenced Sex, Introspection, Kinktober, Kinktober 2020, Loss of Limbs, M/M, Mild Gore, Not Canon Compliant, Protective Bruce Wayne, Romantic Fluff, Strangers to Lovers, Time Skips, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Whump, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:09:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26920426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: It's an impulse that 514A cannot explain, but he wants to kiss Bruce. He wants something for the first time in his life.
Relationships: 514A/Bruce Wayne
Series: Kinktober/Whumptober/Goretober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949473
Comments: 14
Kudos: 11
Collections: Kinktober 2020, Octobercest 2020!, Whumptober 2020





	The Doppelgänger

**Author's Note:**

> This one starts when they're in Season 3 then skips ahead to adult years. Just so no one is confused. I never considered these two until I read something and went "ooooo fascinating!" so here we are. Any comments/thoughts appreciated!

*

 **5-1-4-A**.

His identity. The number on his case file and on his detention cell's hatch.

Nothing really made sense. Professor Hugo Strange tortured him and experimented on him and he _didn't_ fight it. 514A didn't know what else to do or think. He didn't know there was _anything else_ to live for. The screams blaring within Indian Hill were a constant reminder of how helpless it all was. 514A eventually fell asleep. Using the pain and fear like a soothing white noise.

That's why it is odd to wake up in Bruce Wayne's guest-room. Falling asleep and waking to gentle sunlight and quietude.

514A undresses and pulls on the satin-soft, white robe hanging off a desk's chair. He holds up his arm, rubbing his face eagerly against it and breathing in the odor of manufactured lavender. In the rug, 514A's naked, pale toes wiggle.

(Is he _safe?_ Is this what _safe_ feels like?)

He discovers Bruce in one of the parlor-rooms. His dark brown hair oiled and coiffed. Unlike 514A in the dressing robe, Bruce wears a maroon-colored sweater and dark grey, fitted trousers. Shoes that are shiny and black cover Bruce's own toes.

Bruce lowers his arms, offering a widening smile that thrums in 514A's chest. "Good morning, Five."

"What are you doing?"

514A doesn't understand why Bruce was turning in circles. Bruce's chin and head lifted high.

"Practicing," Bruce admits. His cheeks pinken. "Alfred isn't here… so I have to use an imaginary partner if I'm going to learn to dance."

Silence hovers between them.

514A glances away, itching at his nose and pretending his own cheeks aren't, too, flushed.

"… You wanna practice with me, Five?"

Ever since he's gotten here, Bruce has shown him nothing but _kindness_. Encouraged him and questioned him about what 514A's life had been like while at Indian Hill. To know everything. 514A understands. Bruce looks at him and sees what's supposed to be himself. But it's _not_ himself. It's a complete and total stranger with Bruce's features and his voice.

514A realizes, once again, that he's an imposter. A cheap knockoff.

A _mistake_.

"I don't…"

Despite 514A's reluctance, Bruce approaches him across the waxen rosewood floor, pulling on his hand and smiling. He's so _warm_. Inside and out and all around. 514A's fingers tighten on Bruce's. "Come on," Bruce tells him. "I'll let you lead."

He situates 514A right in front of him, guiding one of 514A's hands to his waist.

It's an impulse that 514A cannot explain, or reason away, but he wants to kiss Bruce. He wants _him_. He wants something for the first time in his life and it's right there. It's right _there_ in front of 514A and nobody can stop him.

The parlor-doors crash open. A man with a dark ski-mask rushes in, holding one of the wall-swords.

"Hands in the air!"

Bruce puts his hands up, stunned silent, while 514A tilts his head in mild confusion.

"I said hands in the air!"

"Are you with the Court of Owls?" Bruce murmurs, frowning. "Are you here to kill me?"

514A's heart pounds. He feels sick all of a sudden.

"I'll be asking the questions, Mister Wayne. That's a good lad." The man has an deep, slurring accent but 514A immediately senses something _familiar_ about him. "Now you'll be coming with me _and you won't be coming back_."

"No." 514A physically blocks Bruce by stepping in front of him. "You can take me instead."

Bruce's eyes narrow.

"Five, _don't_ —"

"I've never had a friend before. I've never had anyone. You finally gave me that." 514A peers over his shoulder, mimicking Bruce's earlier soft smile. His long, black hair tumbles to his nose. "Thank you, Bruce," he rasps.

The man holds the sword's point towards 514A's forehead. He then removes his mask.

Bruce sags.

_"Alfred!"_

"Sorry about this, Master B. I didn't mean to give you a fright."

Alfred nods.

"It was a test." He gestures to 514A. "For him."

514A squints his eyes as Bruce does.

"Did… I pass?" he mutters.

Alfred makes an offhanded grunt, but says nothing else. He pats Bruce's head.

Bruce moves away from his guardian, hurrying to 514A and hugging him. 514A stiffens, opening his hands at his sides and feeling lightheaded. Bruce exhales raggedly, closing his eyes and pressing his mouth into the satin-soft robe.

_"Thank you…"_

_*_

He wanted to be just like Bruce.

That's the truth.

514A can still smell the lavender in his memories and taste the warm flavor of Alfred's chicken soup. It's been so long. Wayne Manor has less lamps. The rosewood-paneling and the furniture are different. Bruce has gotten taller.

_Nothing really makes sense._

He hunches in the study's window, crawling in. Bruce's eyes follow him through the sheer, shapeless drapes.

"Are you hurt?" Bruce asks quietly, and 514A has to swallow a laugh. This is where they first met. 514A begged for his life to Bruce, having no idea that Bruce was the only person in this whole world who could make him feel _safe_.

514A hasn't seen his reflection in months.

There's a scar embedded across 514A's hairline. His left eye milky-white. _Blind_.

The clothes on 514A's limbs worn and ripped in holes. He had his left arm torn by a gigantic Venus flytrap after getting captured by Ivy.

The amputated area feels _different_. Mushy with gore.

514A hasn't healed yet.

His nosebleeds worsen, but he's _alive_.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again, Bruce."

A creaking noise interrupts them.

Bruce turns to the doorway, the lines in his face smoothing. "You shouldn't be down here," he reprimands the tiny, child-like figure lingering in the hallway's shadows. "Go find Alfred, Richard. He'll put you to bed."

_"Ss'dark…"_

514A hears him sniffling. Bruce grasps firmly onto the child's shoulder.

"You have nothing to be afraid of," he whispers. "There will always be light in the darkness. Believe me."

Alfred's voice fades in. Bruce says goodnight to both Alfred and Richard, closing the study's oak doors. He hasn't smiled once. 514A cannot find the light and warmth that Bruce speaks of. Perhaps it dimmed like the white noise.

"Was that your son?"

"His parents died in front of him and in front of me. He's the same age as I was."

"How unfortunate."

Bruce scowls a little. He's taller and broader, and 514A no longer is his spitting image. 514A is too willowy. Too _broken_.

"What do you want, Five?"

514A's hand reaches out, seizing his.

_"You."_

He turns Bruce in a circle, like they're dancing, like they're caught in the winds. Light as air. _Lightheaded_. 514A's lips touch his. Bruce groans, dazed-eyed, but allowing 514A's fingers to outline his erection through his pants. Grasping down on him.

Bruce feels so warm.

Inside and out and all around.

*

**Author's Note:**

> Kinktober 2020 prompt(s): **Clone sex/selfcest**  
>  Whumptober 2020 prompt(s): **"Take Me Instead"**  
>  Goretober 2020 prompt(s): **Missing limbs**


End file.
